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CHAPTER 5 SHAFT CLEANING, VENTILATION AND DRAINAGE

CHAPTER 5
SHAFT CLEANING, VENTILATION AND DRAINAGE

5.0 Cleaning

This is the removal of the blasted rock at the shaft bottom. It may be carried out using two
main methods: Manual and Mechanized.

Manual method: Here manpower is employed to shovel the muck into the sinking bucket
to be hoisted to the surface. The method is used especially when bench round is
employed for drilling and blasting. It is slow and productivity is rather low, and does not
afford high rate of advance. Its main advantages however, are that, no special machines
are needed and therefore initial costs are low. Furthermore, the crew do not require any
special skills.

Mechanized methods: They are classified as mechanized methods because they


involve the use of specially designed equipment employed in mucking the broken material
from the bottom of the shaft and hoisted to surface.

5.1 Ventilating The Shaft Bottom During Sinking Operations

At the time of erecting the shaft collar at the initial stages of sinking, the atmospheric air
or the natural ventilation provides adequate ventilation for the sinking crew. However, as
the shaft deepens and the intensity of the blasting operations increases, natural
ventilation would no longer be adequate, there would therefore be the need for installing
ventilation equipment.

The main purpose for equipping the sinking process with ventilators is to, as quickly as is
practicable, dilute the products of the blast with enough fresh air so that the sinkers can
proceed with the mucking operations without much delay. To achieve this objective

ASSOC PROF S. AL-HASSAN


CHAPTER 5 SHAFT CLEANING, VENTILATION AND DRAINAGE

requires that fans (either centrifugal or axial flow fans) be used. The capacity of the fans
may be estimated using the following formulae:

21.4
Q= WV , m3/min (10)
t

where Q is the quantity of air flow in m3/min, t is the time required to ventilate the shaft
bottom in minutes, W is the quantity of explosives consumed in kg, and V is the volume
of the excavation m3.

When the combination method of ventilation (Forcing and Exhaust methods) is used, the
ventilation requirement is determined by the following formulae:

(i) Where the distance from the face is less than 50 m and the forcing type ventilation is
used, then:

15.6
Q= WV , m3/min (11)
t
and
(ii) where the distance from the face to the forcing fan is greater than 50 m then the
ventilation requirement is determined by: -

112
Q= WV , m3/min (12)
t

The forcing type of ventilating the shaft bottom during sinking is better than the exhausting
type. The combination method of ventilation is used in deep shafts. When the depth of
the shaft is about 50 m, two fans are normally installed: one is to ventilate the shaft bottom
after the blast within the stipulated time, (say within two hours), while the other one is to
improve the working condition at the shaft bottom for the workers. When the depth of the
shaft is about 1 000 m, two fans are installed in series in the ventilation ducting to improve
on the efficiency of the ventilation system. The two fans are used after the blasting

ASSOC PROF S. AL-HASSAN


CHAPTER 5 SHAFT CLEANING, VENTILATION AND DRAINAGE

operation and one fan during the remaining period of the shift.

5.3. Drainage

Water Ring: When water is encountered in the shaft an arrangement of grooves, sumps
and pipes is made to collect the water for eventual pumping to the surface or underground
sumps. This arrangement is referred to as a ‘water ring’. These ‘rings’ are placed at
intervals down the shaft to intercept falling water that is then led to a sump and eventually
pumped to the surface. In construction a groove is cut around the shaft to a depth of about
0.5-0.6 m. A dam is then made at one end with timber embedded in concrete or clay, or
with clay or concrete alone to form a channel behind which the water is collected and led
to the sump.
In timbered shafts water is guided into the ring by short planks placed in inclined position
to intercept the water as it falls. In concrete shafts the rings are placed behind the lining,
water being led to them by lines of pipes placed vertically in or behind the concrete. A
small projection on the inside of the lining, like a lip, serves to catch the falling water. The
ring is sufficiently graded to lead the water to the outlet pipe.

Pumping: Single or multiple stage pumps are used to remove accumulated water in the
shaft bottom, or bailing buckets may be used to remove the water into bailing tanks which
is eventually sent to the surface via the sinking stage/platform

ASSOC PROF S. AL-HASSAN

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